


Stay With Me

by xxenjoy



Category: Wiedźmin | The Witcher - All Media Types
Genre: Canon Compliant, Ficlet, Jaskier POV, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-11
Updated: 2020-03-11
Packaged: 2021-03-01 04:53:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,080
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23099635
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/xxenjoy/pseuds/xxenjoy
Summary: I listened tothison my way home from work and this happened.
Relationships: Geralt z Rivii | Geralt of Rivia/Jaskier | Dandelion
Comments: 7
Kudos: 231





	Stay With Me

**Author's Note:**

> I listened to[ this ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iR8IgoAmH_4)on my way home from work and this happened.

The first time they part ways, Jaskier had responsibilities. He'd promised to play at a banquet and the pay is good so he can't really afford to back out.

Oh, but he wants to. Geralt looks at him with big, golden eyes and asks him to repeat himself.

"I have to go," he says again and Geralt looks shocked. He doesn't blame him; he himself was hoping their path would lead them to place and he could just fuck out for a couple of hours. He never expected to be the one to leave first, but things don’t always work out exactly as planned.

"I have a banquet to attend."

_Come with me_ , his heart says. Out loud, he says nothing.

The second time, it’s Geralt who leaves. He’s off to kill some beast Jaskier doesn’t remember the name of and he refuses to bring him along.

_I’m sure we’ll see each other soon_ , he says and Jaskier lets him walk away. Lets him because for once Geralt is thinking of him and trying to keep him safe.

It becomes both harder and easier to walk away from Geralt. Jaskier’s growing fame takes him all across the continent and sometimes they cross paths within weeks, sometimes not for months. But they always return to each other and to Jaskier, that's what matters.

And still, sometimes his heart feels like it’s being pulled from his chest just watching Geralt walk away. Years pass and although he feels it with every fibre of his being, Jaskier can never ask him to stay, can't ask him not to go. 

In Cintra, he almost says the words, but how can he ask his Witcher to stay when he has another in his arms? He watches again in silence, as Geralt leaves the party. 

They travel together for a while after the Djinn incident. Jaskier likes to think it’s because Geralt wants to keep him close, but he’s smarter than to believe it. Yennefer joins them for a time, then disappears as she does only to return just in time to hunt a dragon. 

He doesn’t like the way Geralt is when Yen is around, though maybe it’s just his own jealousy clouding his senses. Then Yen leaves and Jaskier thinks maybe this is his chance. If she's gone Geralt will be more open to him, to realize that while Yen is gone, Jaskier is not. He’ll stay, so long as Geralt wants him to. 

When Geralt tells him to go, he can't think. He can’t say it now. Maybe if their roles were reversed, but Jaskier would never utter those words, never tell Geralt to go. He has no say in this decision, he’s lost his chance. 

His heart says _let me stay, I promise I'll be better_. Outwardly, he says nothing. He looks silently at Geralt and it sinks in that this is real.

Geralt doesn't want him anymore. Nothing he does or doesn't say can change that. So he walks away, this time with no hope that they'll see each other again. 

But they do because life or destiny or some other great force hates him. 

He doesn't know what he's done to upset destiny, but he walks down that mountain alone and two days later finds himself face-to-face with the Witcher again.

Geralt says nothing, but that's not unusual and Jaskier keeps going about his business like he's not there.

_Stay_ , he wants to say, _we can figure this out_. He says nothing.

Five more times he sees him and then the rumours start. Preposterous things they are, too. The monster didn't dismember him or eat him whole. It may have gotten a good couple of blows in, but nothing that a few days rest and the care of a very lovely healer couldn't cure. The tales were so far from the truth that Jaskier thought them laughable.

Geralt, apparently, doesn’t share that humour.

The next time they meet is at a ball where Jaskier is performing. Geralt seems none too pleased to be there and Jaskier thinks almost fondly of his dislike of parties. It's not until Geralt sees him, truly sees him that he realizes the party isn't the problem.

The rumours, he realizes. Geralt thought he was dead. 

The part of him that longs for the days before the dragon is bitterly happy. But one look at Geralt's face and any happiness fades. The whirlwind of emotion that passes over his face tells Jaskier his Witcher has suffered enough. 

For the rest of Jaskier's performance, Geralt doesn't take his eyes off him. Jaskier feels almost unsettled under such direct attention but he can hardly blame him for staring. There was a time when Jaskier watched him with the same enthusiasm. 

Those were the days Jaskier wanted to ask him to stay and those days are very much over. 

Jaskier stays for a short while after his performance, enjoying the food and company, but his enjoyment only lasts so long. He thinks about Geralt on his way out and stops, shuts his eyes, and turns around. 

He finds him sat in a corner drinking alone and he approaches quietly. He knows Geralt can hear him, but he says and does nothing until Jaskier sits across from him. 

"I thought you were dead." 

"Eh, an exaggeration," Jaskier shrugs and his tone is jovial, but he shakes as he says it. 

It's the only thing he gets out before he's rising from his seat and crossing to stand next to Geralt. He doesn't mean to, but he kisses him then, without thought or hesitation. 

Geralt responds enthusiastically, lifting Jaskier off his feet as he kisses him. 

They barely make it to Jaskier's room before Geralt's pulling at his clothes. Jaskier lets him, lets him get him out of his clothes and get him into bed.

Geralt spends the next few hours kissing his apology, his regret into every inch of Jaskier's skin. 

In the morning Geralt is there, but only just. Jaskier sighs as he watches Geralt dress himself and when he turns back to him, he knows it's now or never.

"Stay?" he asks and Geralt pauses. "I have to play again tonight," he explains.

Geralt smiles and crosses to the edge of the bed. He dips and kisses Jaskier's lips.

"For tonight," he agrees, pulling his shirt back up over his head, "on one condition."

"A condition?"

"When I leave in the morning, come with me." 

“Yes,” he says.


End file.
